This comes back to differentiating a typical 'C' programmer from an embedded 'C' programmer. Pretty much any 'C' programmer can write a 'C' program for the 8052--but not all 'C' programmers will be able to write efficient 'C' programs for the 8052.

Could not have said it any better. I have "healed" projects that were "dying" for that very reason.

For some reason (I have a guess), many companies embark on small embedded with the following belief: A programmer is a programmer and the little chips must be much simpler to program than the "big" PC, so we can use some "low cost individuals". So, not only do they get people that do not have an iota of understanding of what small embedded encompass, but they also get those that are less capable generally.

Erik